Alright this One-shot has been written to stop Writers block/ Sludge.
Actually it's kinda fun to write Jecra, so you might see more of him in my future stories.
I hope this doesn't turn into a multi-chaptered story...
~Panda Warrior~
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Meta Knight sighed, another day of work, done. He and Jecra had once again been paired up for a difficult mission. His gloves were now a dull red, Jecra's cape was stained with the same coppery substance. They began the long two day trek back to the Galaxy Star Army's base on the barren planet they were situated on at the moment. As they walked they gathered wood and other things. Their footsteps left faint imprints in the sand, the silence was somehow comforting for the two Warriors. They kept walking until day turned to night, when it did they found shelter on the side of a cliff. The two knights calmly entered the small cave, a pile of firewood in Jecra's arms.
"Ah another days work is completed,eh Meta?"
"Indeed. Jecra, how come we are both being sent on more difficult missions?" Meta Knight calmly asked.
"If you must know, we are planning to launch an attack against Nightmare. I just hope we'll survive," as Jecra said this, he looked towards the stars, his hands forming wrinkles in his cape as he thought.
"What is bothering you, Jecra?" They had been friends for a long time, so they could easily tell when the other was nervous or worried. Jecra only fiddled like that if he was really troubled. Jecra looked up, then walked over to the fire, sitting down he pulled out a small mug filled with soup. When it was heated he took a long drought from it, his mask hanging slightly crooked.
"N-nothing is bothering me, Meta! Your eyes need checked!"
"Right..."
"Fine, but first let me ask you something. Do you know about the wonders of love, Meta Knight?"
"Love-? Love is a foolish, simplistic thing, Jecra. It ruins good people, and it just makes things so much more complicated. I hope you have not fallen victim to its outstretched claws. Honestly Jecra, soldiers of our rank should never even think about such nonsense things!" Meta huffed.
Jecra sadly shook his head, sighing as he did so. Meta Knight could be so thick-skinned at times it wasn't funny. So he hadn't experienced the wonders of love. The anti-social hermit probably had only one friend- Jecra himself.
"Meta Knight, you need to find yourself a girl- or guy if that's what you're after. The thing is... I have, as you so kindly put it, fallen victim to love's claws. If you did experience love-" he was cut off.
"Enough with all this nonsense Jecra! Why must you keep talking about it like it's the best thing in the world? We are high ranking knights, things like this shouldn't matter at all! Why can't you of all people see this!-"
Jecra let him rant it out, Meta Knight had been known to hold back emotions, it would be better for him. He wondered why his friend was so against love, it seemed the more the word was mentioned the angrier he became. He was so worked up over such a tiny thing, if it were a different situation Jecra might have found it funny. Meta seemed to be done blowing his top however, so Jecra handed him his own cup 'o soup.
"Lighten up, my spherical friend. If you hate it that's fine with me, but whether you like it or not I plan to marry her." Jecra chose his words carefully, not wanting his friend to lose it again. He watched as Meta Knight wearily set his cup down, his face angled away from Jecra.
The shadows seemed to grow in size, the light pitter-pat of the rain echoing off the cave walls. Jecra sighed, and that too echoed off the shadowy walls as he looked towards at the small, empty locket he wore around his neck. He looked over at Meta, who seemed to be silently brooding. He couldn't help thinking,'Why is he so against love, anyways? It's not that big of a deal...unless he's never known love before?'
"Meta Knight. Were you abandoned when you were younger? Is that why you can't tolerate the notion of love?" Although his tone was questioning, he was solemn. If Meta was truly abandoned as a child, it made sense. Every time he saw a family, Jecra would notice something eerily different about his fellow knight, he turned almost robotic, completely polite, respectful, and all the while avoiding unnecessary contact. He would just watch, eyes flickering between amber and gold, his hands folded tightly into fists-near his scabbard.
"It's nothing, Jecra. Absolutely and positively nothing. Why should you care, anyways? It has nothing to do with you, and it never will. So get out of my business," his tone and choice of words cut Jecra like a painful swipe from a sword. Wearily, Jecra put his hand on the shorter knight's shoulder, wincing at the stiffness beneath his fingers.
"Meta Knight. Why didn't you tell anyone? Have you been sufferi-" Jecra's hand was wrenched off the shoulder, Meta's footfalls barely audible to Jecra's naturally sharpened hearing.
"Meta, Meta Knight! We are supposed to be hidden, you of all people should know that!"
Meta Knight just continued walking in the general direction of the star army base, not even seeming to care that he was breaking the mission code. Soon, Jecra's own footfalls joined Meta Knight's , and they started the trek once again. He numbly erased their footprints as they went, noting that at night the normally scorching of the planet turned into freezing ice. Once again sighing, he issued the transformation technique, turning his stained cape into a light jacket.
He found his thoughts drifting to the face of a beautiful maiden, one who would be waiting for him when he returned to his domain. He felt the corners of his mouth turn up at that thought, and he re-adjusted his mask.
The shadows began to part, making way for the two flaming orbs as they made their way across the sky. Something glinted in the early morning light, a small, shining beacon to their eyes. Approaching the item, Jecra picked it up, noting the small Cerulean gem in the top of the staff. It was metal, a perfect spur of the moment weapon if needed. He held it up for Meta Knight to see, whose eyes took a shade darker than normal.
"Well this doesn't look good, Eh Meta Knight?"
Meta Knight responded by walking into the base, the silence almost deafening. He swept over the rooms, checking within and signaling if there was any life within them. Jecra's heart sank, so far no survivors. They spread out, checking more and more shadow filled rooms. Things were strewn everywhere, and occasionally you'd see deep red or purple stains on the walls, furniture, and floor. He saw in a small room there was a special code for distress written clearly in a sticky, ink-like substance. He picked up a small frame that had a long crack going down the length and his throat went tight. One of their best sentries... he had a family that he might never be able to see again.
He heard the heavy clunking of Meta Knight's shoes above, the thuds barely making an impact on the eerie silence within the walls.
"Sad isn't it?"
"Meta, please don't do that again, I'm mourning our losses."
"If you insist."
He looked down at the picture again, and then at the distress signal written in that black substance. He fell on his knees, a clatter as the picture fell out of his hands. He felt a sharp pain in the hand that was desperately clutching the cane they'd found earlier. He saw red slowly begin to pool around the top of the cane. Jecra stared at the blood, his blood, and clutched the cane all the more tighter. He watched as his hand slowly stained red. When he felt questioning eyes on the back of his head, he quickly pulled his glove back on, angled away slightly from his friend.
There was the slightest narrowing of those golden orbs, before he heard,"Well, we should try to look for clues, it might help us to know where everyone is."
"You're right, Meta. They wouldn't have given up without a fight. I just hope..." he picked himself up off the floor, feeling the soft pocket of his pocket before he turned. He fingered the locket, knowing that soon he would put a picture within it, he just couldn't find the perfect one. He looked at the fallen picture once more, before leaving the room.
"What is love? Why do so many people long for it?" Meta looked down at the photograph, and quickly turned heel, his footsteps were heard as he passed out of the room. "Love is a stupid foolish thing, and the people who believe in it just want a fairy-tale that will never happen." He began to walk to the outside again, no blood making it's way onto his shoes.
"Meta Knight, there are no footprints leaving out of this place, aside from ours. Ready to be a true 'knight in shining armor?'"
"If I must. We can't just rush in unexplained, we need a plan."
"Metty-"
"I told you never to call me that."
"Ah, but my friend, sometimes it's just so hard to resist. Come on, as your superior I order you to come with me."
"You order me? Jecra, we're of the same rank, so therefore you have no authority to order me to do anything."
"Never mind, let's just find the other soldiers. We can't launch a mass attack against Nightmare with only two people."
Meta just sighed, walking towards the direction the sun was setting, the east. His footprints barely made any difference in the desert landscape, grainy sand just replace what had been moved. Jecra looked back down at his hand, the middle already had a weak red stain, he'd have to bandage that up later. They continued walking, before Meta Knight held out his arm, his gaze pointed forwards.
He rushed forwards, touching the wounded soldiers star pendant.
"He won't make it...Blood loss."
Jecra looked at the young sentry before him. Now Sir Kibble would never be able to see his family in the living again. He watched as Kibble's breath grew short and shallow, his hand clutching the cutter he wore on his head.
"Tell... her I'll miss her...and that...I...love her..." the eyes within the visor dimmed from their pale blue into nothing, the whole time Jecra thought of his own loved one. She was always by his side, and he might never be able to see her again. Meta walked over and began performing the on-duty burial routine. He pulled out round, flat rocks and arranged them into the letter of the deads first name.
"Rest in peace, Sir Aaron Kibble, and may you be remembered in honor. I release your soul into the sky, join the other warriors of the galaxy."
"He had so much...he had a family...he shouldn't have had to die..."
"Agreed, Jecra, but sometimes it just...works out that way."
"He had a family, Meta! A caring bloody family! And he just left this world, do you not feel any remorse at that at all? I don't care if you don't like the concept of love, but his family just lost a good man! Is everything just routine for you? Sure love may be stupid, but those who throw away love and live in hate are demons, Meta, demons! Do you not understand that! Is life just-"
"shh... it's Nightmare's base. You-we might be able to save everyone, there's no time to waste."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Well what do you think? Whoopdie do da day, it turned into a Multi-chaptered fic. Also slightly darker than intended...Well if you want me to continue I can't read minds.